FIG. 1 illustrates an architecture of the LTE mobile communication system.
As shown in FIG. 1, the radio access network (EUTRAN) of the LTE mobile communication system is composed of an evolved base station (Evolved Node B, ENB or Node B) 105, Mobility Management Entity (MME) 110, and Serving Gateway (S-GW) 115. A user equipment (UE or terminal) 100 may connect to an external network through the ENB 110, S-GW 115 and PDN Gateway (P-GW) 120.
Application Function (AF) 130 is an entity that provides session related information to user applications.
The PCRF 125 is an entity for controlling policies related to user QoS. Policy and charging control (PCC) rules corresponding to a specific policy are sent to the P-GW 120 for enforcement. The ENB 105 is a radio access network (RAN) node, which corresponds to the RNC of the UTRAN system or the BSC of the GERAN system. The ENB 105 is connected with the UE 100 through a wireless channel and functions similarly to the existing RNC or BSC.
In the LTE system, as all user traffic including real-time services like VoIP (Voice over IP) services is served by shared channels, it is necessary to perform scheduling on the basis of status information collected from UEs 100. The ENB 105 performs this scheduling function.
The S-GW 115 provides data bearers, and creates and removes a data bearer under control of the MME 110.
The MME 110 performs various control functions, and may be connected to multiple base stations.
Policy Charging and Rules Function (PCRF) 125 is an entity performing overall QoS and charging control functions for traffic.
For service provisioning in a wireless communication system described above, it is necessary to develop a method and apparatus that can provide services without increasing network load.